Marcos Ambrose took the lead with just three laps to go in Saturday’s Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen to secure his first career Nationwide Series victory in 59 starts. He received the lead by virtue of Jeff Burton and Jimmie Johnson running out of fuel in the closing laps in an episode of bitter-sweet redemption after all the tough luck he’s suffered in NASCAR road course racing in 2008. He came close, but eventually took a back seat to Kyle Busch in Mexico City … mechanical issues ended his day in Sonoma when he made his Sprint Cup debut … and, a pit road speeding penalty robbed him in Montreal. But, none of that mattered on Saturday when Ambrose finally stood in a NASCAR victory lane for the first time in his life.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I literally could not believe it. I was just praying the car was gonna hold together and I wasn’t gonna get a late caution. But, we got the job done. I feel really good about it, and it’s just a big lift for our team and it feels like everything’s worth it today.”

Marcos didn’t have much time for celebration, though, because the following day served an even much taller task for the Australian native. He was to return once again to Watkins Glen and step behind the wheel of the Wood Brothers Racing no. 21 Ford to make his third Cup Series start, but after qualifying was washed out on Friday, Ambrose would have to start all the way in the back of the field in 43rd at a track where no driver had ever come from deeper than a 16th starting position to win.

Ambrose quickly made people forget that the team he was driving for on Sunday was a team on the verge of obscurity as he climbed his way into the top-15 by the halfway point. Then, with one of the fastest cars on the track, he dashed up inside the top-5 and was sitting in 3rd after Ryan Newman spun with just 13 laps to go. Even with two restarts to try and get it done, though, Ambrose was never able to get around the 2nd place car of Tony Stewart to try and press Kyle Busch for the lead, but if you ask Marcos, he’ll take his top-five Cup finish anyday of the week.

“It’s a big, bad world out here in NASCAR world, and I’m just pleased that I’m able to have a weekend like this to remember,” said Ambrose. “When it’s all said and done, I’ll be able to go home back to Tasmania and tell them how good I was at Watkins Glen on one year.”

It was certainly a well deserved weekend for Ambrose and his team(s). Ambrose has 5 more races remaining on his schedule driving the no. 21 Wood Bros. car before he competes full-time in the Cup Series next year with JTG Dougherty Racing.

TZ’s Picks (Pocono):
1. Denny Hamlin - 23rd - No points
2. Kurt Busch - 38th - No points
3. Jimmie Johnson - 3rd - 41 points
4. Tony Stewart - 2nd - 41 points
5. Brian Vickers - 28th - No points
6. Kasey Kahne - 7th - 37.5 points

Lock of the Week - Denny Hamlin - Outside Top Fifteen - No points
Sleeper Pick - AJ Allmendinger - Outside Top Fifteen - No points
Steer Clear of - Kevin Harvick - Top Five - (Minus) 20 points

Roc’s Picks (Pocono):
1. Jeff Gordon - 10th - 38.5 points
2. Jimmie Johnson - 3rd - 41.5 points
3. Denny Hamlin - 23rd - No points
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr - 12th - 36 points
5. Carl Edwards - 1st - 41 points
6. Jeff Burton - 21st - No points

Lock of the Week - Denny Hamlin - Outside Top Fifteen - No points
Sleeper Pick - Mark Martin - Top Ten - 7 points
Steer Clear of - Clint Bowyer - Top Ten - (Minus) 15 points

Head-to-Head:
TZ - 99.5 points (3,378 cumulative)
Roc - 149 points (3,325 cumulative)

Do You NASCAR Fantasy League
Standings After Pocono:
1. TMAX Racing
2. Dalli’s Mom
3. Super Smokers
4. Bruce’s Team of Bits
5. Team Legacy
6. Vanilla Thrillaz
7. raracing
8. AlexRyan
9. Jimmie’s Rockets
10. do you nascar

For those of you that had the misguided pleasure of watching this past weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, chances are that you were extremely disappointed with the product that NASCAR and Goodyear brought to the table … and, the drivers and their crews were no different. Perhaps the closed door meeting from NASCAR a couple months back asking the drivers to keep the verbal car bashing to a minimum may have warded off some of the overly eccentric tyrades similar to what we heard from Tony Stewart when he bashed Goodyear following the Atlanta race, but nonetheless, many of the Sprint Cup Series’ top faces expressed disappointment in the finished product following the Allstate 400.

Here are some of the quotes from the teams concerning Goodyear’s tire package that they brought to Indy:

Matt Kenseth: “This is one of the two biggest races of the year and to never have this tire here before and not come and do an open test and to work on these things and work on these tires, it’s pretty darn disappointing. We had a great car. I feel bad for the fans. We’re running three-quarters speed because we’re worried of the tires blowing out and they blow out every eight laps.”

Ryan Newman: “It was a ridiculous race. There was no racing involved, other than mandatory cautions. It’s disrespectful to the fans. That’s not the way NASCAR racing is supposed to be.”

Jeff Gordon: “It’s embarrassing and disappointing. I’ve never seen anything like this, and I’m really sorry that it happened in such a big race like the Brickyard.”

Jamie McMurray: “I got really mad in the middle because they were letting us run until the tires were blowing up, and I’m like, ‘You can’t put us in that situation.’ You’ve got to throw the caution before we blow a tire because if someone gets hurt, we could have prevented that.”

Brian Vickers: “The problem is not one thing. We’ve seen all year long that this car is a lot worse on tires. I think everybody has to raise their hand and take some responsibility here. We have to really think about where we’re going and how we’re going to do it.”

Chad Knaus: “There are really only five things that keep a car on a racetrack. That’s four tires and downforce. Everybody has to realize that this car has about 50 percent of the downforce we had in the past.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr: “That’s the most bizarre race I’ve ever run. I was just glad we got through it with no real chaos. I’m ashamed, but there wasn’t much we could do.”

*Earnhardt also participated in a 3-driver testing session at Indy back in April to test various tire packages, to which he stated, “When I tested here they were wearing out (after) five laps, too.”

Carl Edwards: “I knew when there wasn’t any rubber laying down on the track — I couldn’t see any rubber on the track — I thought we were in trouble there. I know everybody was hoping that it would get better by Lap 30 or 40, but I knew we were in trouble then.”

Anonymous Tire Specialist: “The rubber coming off the tire was too fine. It was like sugar. That’s why the track never rubbered up. The whole back of the tire was dust. And everyone could see the fans leaving by Lap 100. It was the most disgusting display I’ve ever seen at a racetrack. The fans that come back deserve half-price tickets.”

Don’t let the criticism misguide you, though. While everyone throughout the garage area was disappointed with what took place at Indy, most everyone applauded the reactionary methods that NASCAR took to keep the race safe and err on the side of caution - literally.

Jeff Burton: “Early in the race we were running three-quarter speed. Late in the race, we ran hard and we had faith in NASCAR to throw the caution. NASCAR did a great job today under adverse situations. I don’t know what they could have done better. I know that NASCAR and Goodyear are going to take a lot of heat for this but you have to also look at the other side of it. There was no evidence that the situation was getting better during practice so NASCAR did the right thing and did a really good job of throwing the cautions. They responded to a problem and I give them credit for that.”

Bobby LaBonte: “It was a wild race out there, without a doubt. You had to pick when you wanted to race hard to pass someone and the rest of the time you just had to bide your time to save your tires. We knew this would be the case going in and NASCAR did a great job with what they had. My car was actually handling pretty good. It was just a little loose, but I was happy with the balance. My pit crew has to get a lot of credit today. This was the most consistently fast day we’ve had all year on pit road. They picked up a lot of positions for me.”

And, of course, as one might expect, Greg Stucker - Goodyear Director of Race Tire Sales - and Robin Pemberton - NASCAR’s Director of Competition - both had their hands full following the race.

Greg Stucker: “Obviously, the tread wear didn’t improve as we thought it would over the course of the afternoon. We don’t have the answer as to why that didn’t happen, so we’ve got to go back and look at that and try to figure out how to make it better. This is the same compound we raced last year and the wear improved over the course of the day to the point where we could run the full stops. That didn’t happen today, so we need to understand why. I don’t think anyone likes to race like this — us included. We’re going to try to figure out what we need to do to make it better, so that’s what we’re here for.”

Robin Pemberton: “I can’t say enough how sorry we are, and it’s our responsibility, being NASCAR, that we don’t go through this situation again. We’ve already got after it, and we’re moving forward with a plan to get ahead of the situation so we don’t go through this again. Once again, I think that it deserves to be said that the race didn’t come off like we had hoped. The fans didn’t get what they exactly wanted, and we’ll do everything in our power, and it won’t happen again, I can tell you that much. We’re going to put a lot of effort toward it and get a better plan moving forward.”

Video of the interviews with Robin Pemberton and Carl Edwards following the race:

With only two accidents and one blown engine, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in Indianapolis Motorspeedway still managed to see 11 caution periods during the 160-lap event because of tire issues …. that’s the story of Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race, and unfortunately that story overshadows the one of Jimmie Johnson winning the pole award and going on to pick up his second career victory at the Brickyard.

NASCAR knew that they were likely to experience tire issues, but they weren’t sure just how bad it would be. They had a competition caution scheduled within the first 15 laps of the race, but they didn’t need to use it thanks to Michael Waltrip spinning into the Turn 2 wall on lap 4, and then Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick wrecking on lap 14.

Dale Earnhardt Jr, who had already made a pit stop under green, inherited the lead on lap 17 when he stayed out as the rest of the leaders came into pit. He was able to hold onto the lead until his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon, passed him on lap 25, and that’s when the troubles started for Junior. The next lap Earnhardt’s car was bobbling around the track as he lost a ton of positions before finally pitting on lap 27 with a right rear tire going down, putting him a lap down.

On the following lap, Mark Martin came down pit road when he thought he might have a tire going down, and then on lap 29, Juan Pablo Montoya’s right-rear blew, spreading debris all over the track. NASCAR then brought their first competition caution out on lap 30, and it was the points leader, Kyle Busch, leading the charge off of pit road to assume the race lead.

Jeff Gordon passed Busch for the lead on lap 36, but Johnson passed his teammate on the next trip around the track to take the lead for the second time of the day. About this same time, NASCAR reported that the next scheduled competition caution would take place on lap 47, but a few of the cars just couldn’t stretch it that far. Mark Martin pitted on lap 46 when he felt the tire cords vibrating in the car, Sam Hornish Jr. went a lap down when he was forced to pit with a tire issue, and Carl Edwards lost several positions on the track when he had to slow his car down because he, too, thought he was having a problem.

The big blow, though, was on lap 47. Just prior to NASCAR waiving their scheduled competition caution, Matt Kenseth blew a right rear tire that sent him spinning and literally shredded the rear end of his car. Kenseth had started up inside the top-ten and was viewed by many as one of the favorites to win the race, but the unfortunate circumstances put a shoddy end to his day.

Kyle Busch once again led the field off of pit road, this time followed by AJ Allmendinger in second. Both cars took only two tires, while Jimmie Johnson continued to take four tires on each stop. The four tires proved to be key, as Johnson once again worked his way up to the front on lap 62 and stayed there until the next competition caution, which came on lap 65. Dale Earnhardt Jr. received the Lucky Dog award under this caution, finally putting him back on the lead lap.

Allmendinger, who stayed in second place through the entire previous run on just two tires, once again went with just two right-sides and won the race off of pit road to take the lead. He continued his strong run and held onto the lead for a few laps, but was eventually passed by Johnson on lap 72. Two laps later Brian Vickers, who was running in the top-ten at the time, was forced to make his way down pit road with engine troubles as he was unable to turn the full RPMs.

Johnson still had the lead when the next competition caution waived on lap 82, but Martin Truex Jr. short-pitted just prior to the caution flag and inherited the lead by staying out while the leaders pitted. The lead was short-lived, however, as Carl Edwards made quick work of Truex and passed him for the lead on lap 87, and three laps later it was Johnson back to the front.

Caution number 7 was another competion caution on lap 97, and this time it was Elliott Sadler taking the lead for the first time despite hanging around near the top-five for the entire day, but lost the lead during the restart on lap 105 when Jeff Burton made his move to the front after starting all the way back in 32nd. Just after Burton took the lead, though, Brian Vickers - who had recently returned to the track - finally blew his engine, bringing the field under caution for the 8th time.

The leaders stayed out on the track having run only one lap on their set of tires, and they didn’t finally get restarted again until lap 113. Burton was still in the lead at the time, but three laps later it was Johnson again up to the front. He stayed there until the next competition caution on lap 121. This time it was Denny Hamlin taking two tires to get off of pit road first, and for the first time of the day, Johnson struggled to get past him despite having four fresh tires underneath him.

Hamlin held onto the lead through the ensuing caution on lap 133, and then NASCAR presented their final competition caution on lap 149, setting up a shootout to the finish. With the majority of the teams opting for just two tires on pit road, Hamlin’s crew had a slow stop and sent him out in third with Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards coming out ahead of him.

The final restart came on lap 154, and Johnson was able to hold off Carl Edwards for the final 7 laps of the race to get his second Brickyard victory with Edwards finishing 2nd and Hamlin in 3rd. Elliott Sadler earned his best finish of the season in 4th, and Jamie McMurray finished off a strong run in 5th. Jeff Gordon slipped a little in the latter portions of the race, but still went onto finish in 6th. 7th place went to Kasey Kahne, who rebounded nicely after his team spotted a cracked header on his car in the first segments of the race. Greg Biffle scored his best Indy finish by crossing the line in 8th. In 9th was Jeff Burton, and AJ Allmendinger finally scored his first ever top-ten finish by finishing 10th.

Other Notables:
After running a lap down earlier in the race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. rebounded to a 12th place finish ….. Indiana-native, Ryan Newman, was scored in 13th ….. Points leader, Kyle Busch, wound up with his worst Indianapolis finish in 15th ….. Patrick Carpentier was scored as the highest rookie in the race. He finished 18th ….. In what will be his final Indianapolis appearance with Joe Gibbs Racing, Tony Stewart - a two time winner of this event and one of the favorites heading into the weekend - finished with an extremely disappointing 23rd place run.

The top three spots in the standings remained unchanged, and both Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton were able to gain very minimal ground on Kyle Busch for 1st place. Johnson’s win, however, moved him up a position past Carl Edwards into 4th, as Edwards now drops to 5th. Denny Hamlin gave himself a little bit more of a cushion as he moves up four spots into 8th, and Kasey Kahne jumped up two positions to 9th. Clint Bowyer’s 19th place run was enough to move him from 13th to 12th in the standings and into a Chase position, while his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Kevin Harvick, dropped down 4 spots to 13th. Only 100 points separates 7th place Greg Biffle from Kevin Harvick, and Harvick is only 2 points out of 12th.

Grades:
the Race:  40%
the Drama:  75%
Coverage:  62%
Pre-Race:  90%

Overall Grade:  56.4%

Complete Results (from nascar.com):

Sprint Cup Series Standings (from nascar.com):

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Indianapolis Motor Speedway (aka: the Brickyard) is home of the Indianapolis 500 and is highly regarded as one of the most prestigious tracks in all of motorsports. After taking a week off, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will now return to the Brickyard for the fifteenth time in a race whose prestige to NASCAR regulars is rivaled only by the season opening Daytona 500. In the previous 14 trips to the track, Indianapolis has produced only three multiple winners in NASCAR, and only two of them will be in the field on Sunday - Jeff Gordon (4 wins) and Tony Stewart (2 wins), with Dale Jarrett being the other. With the garage area finally being able to weed their way through much of the notorious Silly Season and a week of R&R in the rearview, the drivers will hit the track on Sunday more focused than ever as the countdown to the Chase begins to wind down.

Recent Winners:
2007 - Tony Stewart
2006 - Jimmie Johnson
2005 - Tony Stewart

Recent Polesitters:
2007 - Reed Sorenson
2006 - Jeff Burton
2005 - Elliott Sadler

the Usual Suspects:
As previously mentioned, Jeff Gordon has four wins at Indianapolis, which is tops amongst all drivers in NASCAR. Equally impressive, though, is that he also has 7 top-five’s and 10 top-ten’s through 14 races at the track, both of which are also the best in the Sprint Cup garage area. His 16th place run here in 2006 was his worst since he finished 33rd back in 2000, but he was able to rebound with a 3rd place effort last season. Though he is still without a win 19 races into the 2008 campaign, Gordon’s quietly been creeping his way up through the points standings, and the no. 24 team is beginning to show signs of life again - which could mean very bad things for the other 42 cars out on the track.

Tony Stewart seems to be getting back to enjoying life once again, and there are few places he likes to visit better than the Brickyard, as he has proven with wins here in 2005 and 2007. He’s going to need some strong showings to secure his place in the Chase, as I’m sure he’d love nothing more than to give the Coach one more championship before departing at the end of the season.

Indianapolis has yet to be conquered by the driving prowess of Kyle Busch, but then again, there were a lot of places Kyle had never won at prior to this season. He’s gradually improved each year he’s been here, though, going from 10th to 7th, and finally cracking the top-five with a 4th place finish last year ….. Kevin Harvick had his opportunity to kiss the bricks with his win here back in 2003, and another opportunity to do that would really straighten his season out as he continues to recover from his mid-season slump. He’s finished 11th or better in six of his seven races at Indy ….. Matt Kenseth has never won at the Brickyard before, but he’s been very consistent. In 8 races here, he’s cracked the top-five on four occasions, which includes a pair of runner-up finishes, and he’s finished 16th or better in each of his last six Indy races.

the Unusual Suspects:
Juan Pablo Montoya has run very well in a stock car at almost any track that they also race in the open wheel circuits, and Indianapolis was no exception last year as he finished 2nd in that race. With Pocono and Watkins Glen up next on the schedule, JPM could be looking at a pretty good stretch ahead ….. Brian Vickers has finished 21st or better in three of his four Indy races, which includes a 3rd place finish back in 2005. He’s been running much better this season and could be staring at a potential berth in the Chase field. He ran well at Pocono earlier in the season, a track that many feel shares similar characteristics to the Brickyard ….. Reed Sorenson has come to Indy only twice. The first trip resulted in a dismal 30th place finish, but last year’s visit was much brighter as Reed won the pole and then went onto finish 5th in the race itself.

the Unusual Slackers:
In three races at Indianapolis, Martin Truex Jr. has never finished better than 12th and holds an average finish of just 24.3. This is not a good place for Martin to be right now, either, considering that his team was just handed a 150 point penalty by NASCAR, and he’s going to need plenty of good runs if he plans on having any shot at making the Chase this year ….. Hometown crowd or not, Indy has not been kind to Ryan Newman thus far in his career. Seven times Newman has come home to Indiana with high expectations, but 2002 was the only one that resulted in a top-ten finish, when he finished 4th. He has only two top-15’s here since then ….. Despite winning the race here in 2006, Jimmie Johnson has experienced some unusual struggles here. The results haven’t typically been very indicative of how he’s run, but nonetheless, he’s got three finishes outside of the top-35 in only six tries. His other finishes were a win, a 9th, and an 18th ….. Greg Biffle has seen his share of struggles at Indy as well. In five races here, he’s finished in the top-ten only once, and only twice in the top-15. His overall average finish at the track is 19.2.

Best Driver Ratings (from racingone.com):
1. Tony Stewart - 121.4
2. Juan Pablo Montoya - 120.7
3. Kevin Harvick - 108.7
4. Matt Kenseth - 106.1
5. Mark Martin - 102.9

Best Average Finish (from racingone.com):
1. Juan Pablo Montoya - 2.0
2. Kyle Busch - 7.0
3. Tony Stewart - 7.6
4. Jeff Gordon - 7.6
5. Kevin Harvick - 7.7

Indianapolis Facts:
- 3rd is the only starting position to produce more than one winner at Indy. Three drivers have driven to victory from the third spot. The 1st and 2nd starting positions have produced one winner each.
- Four drivers have driven six different car numbers at Indianapolis: Bill Elliott, Joe Nemecheck, Jeff Green, Kenny Wallace.
- Dave Blaney is the only driver to have driven five different car makes at Indy. He has driven Pontiac, Ford, Dodge, and Chevy twice each here, and has also driven a Toyota once.
- Only four drivers have finished in the top-ten in each of the last three years: Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, and Mark Martin.
- Jeff Burton has led more laps at Indianapolis than at any other track that he has not won at.
- The second NASCAR race held here, back in 1995, saw only one caution flag during the race. In 2004, there were 13 cautions.
- Chevrolet has won 9 of the 14 Cup races held at Indy.

Six-Pack Challenge:
Winner - Jeff Gordon
2nd Place - Kyle Busch
3rd Place - Mark Martin
4th Place - Tony Stewart
5th Place - Matt Kenseth
6th Place - Clint Bowyer

Lock of the Week - Tony Stewart
Sleeper Pick - Juan Pablo Montoya
Steer Clear of - Greg Biffle

Video Footage of the 2007 Allstate 400:

Image details: LifeLock.com 400 Practice served by picapp.com

There’s only 6 races to go before we make it to Richmond, and then, after that 7th race is over, we’ll know once and for all who’s in and who’s out of the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. Historically speaking - since they first turned to the Chase format a few years ago - those who were in at this point in the season have typically stayed in, and those who were out have typically stayed out ….. but, this season could be one that breaks all the rules. While I think it’s safe to assume that Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Gordon - the top-six in points - are all in, I can’t speak of spots 7 through 12 with the same level of certainty. Only 133 points separates 7th place Greg Biffle from 15th place David Ragan, and only 245 points separates 12th place Denny Hamlin to 18th place Kurt Busch.

That means that there’s six teams currently sitting outside of the Chase that I still believe it’s too early to count out of it, and that gives you 12 teams vying for those final 6 spots. That, of course, is the inspiration for this week’s “List of the Week”. Here’s who I say makes in 7th through 12th by the end of Richmond:

(*Note - I’m not going to move anyone out of the top-six any higher than sixth heading into the Chase, though I think they will be)

7th - Matt Kenseth
8th - Tony Stewart
9th - Greg Biffle
10th - Kevin Harvick
11th - Brian Vickers
12th - Clint Bowyer

This puts both Kasey Kahne and Denny Hamlin out of the top-12 where both currently sit, and also shuts the door on David Ragan, Ryan Newman, Martin Truex Jr, and Kurt Busch.

Image details: LifeLock.com 400 served by picapp.com

Kyle Busch continued his dominating run over the Sprint Cup Series Saturday night as he picked up his series-leading 7th win of the season by taking the checkers in the Lifelock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, IL. After rain cancelled Friday’s qualifying session, Busch was awarded the pole position due to leading the championship points standings, and that proved to be invaluable as he led the first 44 laps of the race en route to setting a new track record by leading a total of 165 laps, erasing the previous record set by Tony Stewart.

After a competition caution on lap 35 brought the field together, Carl Edwards passed Busch for the lead on lap 45, but then surrendered the lead just a few laps later when Denny Hamlin brought out the caution as he fell off the pace due to issues with his ignition box. While Edwards and most of the other race leaders came into pit, five cars remained out on the track, including Jeff Gordon who was then scored as the race leader, and also Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers, and Ryan Newman who were able to use the track position to their advantage for the rest of the evening. Biffle took the lead from Gordon on lap 57 and held onto until the five cars that stayed out had to pit around lap 92, at which time Tony Stewart became the new race leader.

The rest of the field started cycling through their green flag stops around lap 100, and many cars had costly stops, including Kurt Busch who was penalized for too fast entering pit road, and Travis Kvapil who was penalized for hitting the commitment cone as he entered pit road. Both drivers were forced to make pass-through penalties, and both found themselves a lap down following the incidents.

Greg Biffle re-assumed command of the race after the pit stops finally cycled their way through, but a caution on lap 112 involving Patrick Carpentier, Michael Waltrip, and Jeff Burton erased the lead. Seeing the strategy that some of the other drivers used earlier in the race, four more drivers stayed out on the track, and Matt Kenseth led the race for the first time. Kyle Busch, David Ragan, and AJ Allmendinger also stayed out.

Kurt Busch was able to drive his way ahead of the leaders on the restart to get back onto the lead lap, and then some of the best racing of the evening came when Kenseth and Kyle Busch raced each other side-by-side for several laps until Kenseth finally gave way on lap 120, and then was forced to pit four laps later when he had a tire going down. The pit stop put Matt a lap down to the race leaders, but he later gained that back when a caution came out on lap 177 for debris and he was awarded the lucky dog.

Carl Edwards made his way back to the front when he passed Kyle Busch for the lead on lap 203, but the troubles continued for the Roush-Fenway Racing bunch when he pitted on lap 208. He had originally thought that he also had a tire going down, but it was later determined that he had broken a splitter, causing the handling on his car to go away. He was able to get back out on the track, though he was stuck a lap down and was never able to recover. About the same time, Kurt Busch watched all the progress he’d made in recovering from the earlier penalty on pit road go away as his car dropped a cylinder, sending him all the way back to the tail end of the lead lap.

Kyle Busch re-assumed the lead after the Edwards pit stop, and remained up front until Jimmie Johnson challenged him for the lead with just 17 laps to go. Johnson won the battle and appeared to be poised for his second win of the season as he pulled away from the field until David Gilliland’s engine blew up 11 laps later, bringing out the ninth and final caution of the day, and also setting the field up for a 2-lap shootout.

Johnson had already proven that he had the most dominant car of all those in position for the win, so Kyle Busch knew that the only way to get to him was to get him on the restart, and that’s exactly what he did. He timed the restart perfectly as he clung to Johnson’s rear bumper and was able to pull up next to him going through turns 1 and 2. He made the pass on the no. 48 car on the high side and then pulled down in front of him.

Johnson hung with him, though, as Kyle took the white flag with Kevin Harvick also hanging tough in third right behind Johnson. He made one last attempt to pass Kyle going through the final turns, but Johnson overdrove the corner and got loose, securing the win for the no. 18 team. Johnson went onto finish 2nd, and Harvick wound up 3rd.

Greg Biffle’s race strategy paid off as he finished in 4th, and after a long week in the spotlight, Tony Stewart came home in 5th. The no. 83 Red Bull Racing team of Brian Vickers also used some strategy in the pits, and they were able to walk away with a 6th place finish. Matt Kenseth ran out of time in his charge back up to the front of the field, but still managed to salvage a 7th place effort. David Ragan finished in 8th. Martin Truex Jr. found the good run that he desperately needed and crossed the line in 9th, and Ryan Newman’s strategy paid off as well, as he rounded out the top-ten finishers.

Other Notables:
Jeff Gordon’s bid for a second Chicagoland victory came up short as he finished just outside of the top-ten in 11th ….. Elliott Sadler and AJ Allmendinger both had good runs going, but dropped outside of the top-ten in the closing laps as they wound up in 12th and 13th ….. Kasey Kahne recorded the best Chicagoland finish in his career as he finished 15th ….. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a disappointing run. After starting the race in 2nd, he wound up 16th ….. Kurt Busch wound up 28th, and Carl Edwards was 30th.

For Kyle Busch, this was his third win in the last four races, being trumped only by older brother Kurt’s win at New Hampshire. It was also his seventh Sprint Cup victory of the season, which will equate to 35 bonus points when the series enters the Chase for the Cup in October. He has now also opened up an astounding 262 point lead in the standings over second place Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The top six spots in the standings remained unchanged, but there was quite a bit of shakeup in the bottom half of the top-12. Greg Biffle moved up four spots to 7th, and his Roush teammate, Matt Kenseth, also continues to gain ground as he moved up a spot to 8th. Kevin Harvick made his way back inside the Chase field, as he moved from 13th to 9th, and Tony Stewart is a little more comfortable now in 10th. Kasey Kahne and Denny Hamlin are now on the bubble in 11th and 12th, and Clint Bowyer has dropped outside of the top-12 as he now sits 27 points out in 13th.

Grades:
the Race: 85%
the Drama: 93%
Coverage: 86%
Pre-Race: 95%

Overall Grade: 87.8%

Complete Results (from nascar.com):

Sprint Cup Series Standings (from nascar.com):